For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

As I mentioned the other day, the boys and I are in Orlando. As my friend, Cindy, said, “A kid’s dream vacation.” And she’s right. I really didn’t plan it that way, but when you have two little boys, well, you do things that they like. And that’s okay. I enjoy seeing them happy. I didn’t want to spend the whole week at the theme parks, so I told them to pick two. They picked Sea World and Aquatica, the new water park next to Sea World.

Well, I love Sea World, it’s my favorite, so that one was easy. But I was struggling with the water park. Usually Bobby takes them to these things and it’s not like the little park at home. I can’t sit on my towel and let them run off and do their own thing. I would have to be with them on the rides and I just don’t like water.

The park fills up early this time of year, so we were on our way by 8:00 am. And it was cool yesterday morning, only 76 degrees. The sky was overcast with storm clouds, not a hint of sun anywhere. It was looking pretty bleak and it even started raining on our way there. I asked the boys if they wanted to put off the trip till the next day, but they were not to be diverted. They LOVE water and everything about it and were way excited about the prospect of spending their day shooting down tunnels and splashing into the water.

When we got to the park and found a spot to park, the skies cleared up, and the sun came out. It was still cool, but off the boys went. I waited for them at the bottom of the rides for a time, I explained I just could not get into the water till it warmed up a bit.

But by about noon, it had become a typical summer day and I was sweating and the boys were having so much fun and they asked me to go on a rafting ride with them and they were so excited about sharing their fun with me, I couldn’t resist.

And for the rest of the day, I went from ride to ride with them, careening down dark tunnels, water spraying in my face, laughing and screaming and having a wonderful time.

I did not drown, I did not get immersed underwater. Nothing bad happened to me. In fact, something good happened … I connected with my little guys on a level they hadn’t experienced with me before. I was one of them. And they commiserated with me on the last ride when I had to go the entire trip BACKWARDS … Chase kept assuring me it was almost over.

We talked about fear one day in our ladies group. Someone gave this definition: False Evidence Appearing Real. Another talked about how fear is always based on our future, and 99% of the time, what we are fearing never even comes to pass.

I love the verse above, God did not give us a spirit of fear, that comes from the enemy. He is always trying to throw darts into our lives, messing us up. If he can keep us in fear, we’ll never experience the true life that Jesus has for us.

Sometimes it’s hard to break out of that fear zone, but God’s promise for you is that He will never leave you nor forsake you. He’s got your back.

I almost missed out on the experience of having my little guy grab my hand and lead me off to another adventure … what adventure are you missing out on??

Father, thank you for giving me the courage to step out of my comfort zone yesterday and enjoy the day with the boys. Thank you Father for letting your Son shine all day long.